Donald Trump is trying to bring two massive fracked gas pipelines back from the dead — and Gov. Hochul must shut the door immediately.
Pipeline giant Williams has filed paperwork to revive the Constitution and Northeast Supply Enhancement (NESE) pipelines, two fossil fuel projects that would carry fracked gas from Pennsylvania through New York. Both pipelines were formally rejected by New York regulators after widespread public opposition — Constitution was denied under the Clean Water Act following years of grassroots pressure, and NESE faced multiple permit denials before the company ultimately withdrew the project.
These projects are dangerous, outdated, and entirely incompatible with New York’s climate and water protection mandates — and they must be rejected again.
These pipelines weren’t stopped because they hit a bureaucratic snag. They were stopped because everyday New Yorkers organized, rallied, and refused to let their communities be poisoned by fossil fuel corporations — and ultimately forced the state to uphold environmental law.
The Constitution Pipeline would have torn through forests and crossed hundreds of waterways. It was denied by the state after failing to show it could comply with Clean Water Act standards — a decision upheld in court. NESE posed serious risks to New York Harbor’s wildlife and water quality, and was ultimately rejected by regulators for failing to meet water standards and conflicting with the state’s climate mandates. These were bad projects then, and they’re even worse now.
What’s changed since then? Certainly not the science. The climate crisis is more urgent than ever. Building new fracked gas infrastructure is incompatible with a livable future. And pipelines through waterways still threaten NYC beachgoers by stirring up toxic sediment contaminated with mercury and copper — not to mention harming recovering whales, dolphins, and endangered sea turtles in New York Harbor — while posing explosion and contamination risks near the crowded beaches of Coney Island and the Rockaways.
Adding to the danger, Williams — the company behind both projects — has racked up a disturbing safety record, including pipeline explosions, fires, and repeated violations of federal safety standards. These climate and water quality threats make clear that fossil fuel expansion is fundamentally incompatible with a livable future — for both our planet and our communities.
And yet, in recent months, the governor has shown troubling signs of wavering on fossil fuels. Her administration greenlit the Iroquois pipeline expansion through the Hudson Valley earlier this year, ignoring broad opposition and the climate law she’s tasked with implementing.
New York’s Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act, passed in 2019, requires a rapid shift off fossil fuels — but the state has already missed key implementation deadlines, and Hochul’s delay in action is putting us further off course. Doubling down on more major pipelines would turn her climate failures into a defining legacy.
It’s not just bad policy — it’s bad economics. Experts estimate that overbuilt gas pipelines have led to $179 billion in unnecessary investment, with costs passed on to utility customers whether the gas is needed or not. Approving new projects now would saddle ratepayers with the bill for infrastructure that will be obsolete within years — leaving behind a massively expensive stranded asset.
Instead of caving to Trump’s bullying, Hochul needs to stand up and protect our hard-fought environmental wins. With the federal government embracing a full-blown pro-fossil fuel agenda, it’s more important than ever for states like ours to draw a clear line: No new pipelines. No more fossil fuel buildout. No deals with Trump that sell out our future.
New Yorkers continue to prove that fossil fuel infrastructure is politically toxic. Zohran Mamdani won NYC’s Democratic primary while touting his leadership in fighting the Astoria NRG power plant.
In 2022, nearly 68% of voters approved the Environmental Bond Act — a landslide vote demanding investments in clean water, climate resilience, and environmental protection. That’s a resounding public mandate. If the governor opens the door to these projects, the blowback will be swift, vocal, and impossible to ignore.
Hochul must make clear that New York will not be bullied by Trump or steamrolled by pipeline companies and reject the fossil fuel industry’s efforts to resurrect long-dead pipelines. Anything less is a failure of leadership.
This is a fight for the future of New York. Gov. Hochul can stand with everyday New Yorkers — or with Trump and the fossil fuel industry. She can’t do both.
Shindell is the New York State director at Food & Water Watch.
